Find Your Motivation

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Motivation will not magically happen. Your motivation will change from day to day. You have to recommit to your goals each day, tweak them to fit changes in your lifestyle and attitude and find new ways to motivate yourself over the course of your life.

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If you're sitting on the couch watching Oprah's Best Life episodes while eating Kashi cookies dipped in melted Hershey's kisses from Halloween (don't even laugh - it happens) and waiting to feel "motivated" to head to the gym, you are fooling yourself.

Motivation is not something that happens to us. It's something that we have to create for ourselves. Since each person is motivated by a unique set of factors, it really is up to you to find what will make you eat like you give a damn (Sorry, Mom).

- Does spending money in this tight economy make you feel like you have an undie grundie? Well, consider the fact that diseases caused by unhealthy living, and their necessary medications, will make your healthcare costs skyrocket! And what about the crazy costs of having to buy a new wardrobe when your "normal" clothes don't fit anymore?

- Are you a complete sucker for your grandkids? You certainly won't be able to do anything fun with them if you have no range of motion (completely inflexible) and are out of breath by the time you hit the end of the driveway.

- Thinking about starting a family? Your new baby will be your most prized possession, so do you really want to treat him/her to a 9 month incubation period filled with Krispy Kreme donuts and second-hand cigarette smoke? Not at all. You want to give your baby the absolute best from the point of conception.

These are just a few examples of how you can motivate yourself to live a healthy lifestyle by finding something else that you really, really want out of life and linking them both together.

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Studies have shown, and I tend to agree, that people who give "looking good" as the sole motivating factor for exercising and eating well do not stick to healthy living as long as their counterparts who give less superficial reasons. The problem with only being worried about how you look is that you will have no motivation to make smart choices on the days that you're fitting into your "skinny jeans." Also, when you find yourself in an environment when you feel that you look better than most everyone else, you'll tend to slack off. Find something more meaningful to motivate yourself...something that you care about deeply...something bigger than just yourself.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Tips for a Leaner Midsection

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There’s no secret to getting the abs you want.

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A significant chunk of people start working out because they hope to get those movie star-quality abs. Unfortunately, that’s often a lot harder than it sounds, so it’s a good idea to keep these basic tips in mind as you get started.

Don’t Do Endless Reps – Don’t make the mistake of thinking that doing crunches or sit-ups for hours will give you the six pack that you desire. The abdominal muscles are just like any other, and if you can do hundreds of crunches at a time, you may not be challenging them enough to grow. If any ab exercise get too easy for you, you should consider making it more challenging by adding weights. For example, you might hold a dumbbell or medicine ball to your chest while you do crunches. You should also learn how to do other ab exercises beyond the basic crunch. Try bicycle kicks, leg lifts, planks.

Focus on Cardio and Diet - As with anything else, it’s a mistake to think that resistance training alone will get you the tummy that you want. Most people aren’t happy with their abs because they simply have too much fat in that area. Fat around your midsection is typically harder to get rid of than fat from other you parts of your body. And women, because they have a naturally higher body fat percentage than men, might actually find it to be even more challenging. The only way to get rid of that fat is by doing plenty of cardio and watching what you eat.

Stand Up Straight – Most people can improve the appearance of their midsection simply by improving their posture. Standing up straight will naturally cause you to pull your stomach in, and it will also activate more muscles, helping you burn a few extra calories during the course of the day.

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I’ve noticed that the #1 thing people neglect while heading down the path to rockin’ abs is a good diet. All of those commercials on television for ab machines sometimes give the impression that exercising is enough to make your abs visible, but it just isn’t. In order to get your body fat percentage low enough, you need to cut out the sweets and excess junk while making sure that you burn off more calories throughout the day than what you take in.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Get Help From Friends & Family

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It helps to have allies on your fitness journey.

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I’ve met many people who can never quite seem to stick to a healthy eating plan or exercise routine because their relationships with others somehow get in the way, but fortunately it doesn’t have to be that way. With a little effort you can actually help turn those closest to you into partners rather than roadblocks.

Work Out Together - When you work out with a friend or significant other, workout time becomes something more social and fun. Don’t worry if they haven’t yet caught on to the gospel of exercise. You guys don’t have to actually go to the gym. Just spending some time walking around the park together will help you burn calories, but you’ll feel like you are just hanging out.

Ask For Their Help – Well-meaning family and friends can sometimes sabotage your diet plans by constantly offering you terribly fattening food. Usually these people just don’t know any better, and simply telling them that while you appreciate the thought, you are trying to stick to a healthier diet will do the trick. Most people will truly understand, and you may motivate them to even join in with you.

Seek Out Compliments – We all know one or two people who are never shy with a compliment. These people can be key to your overall fitness strategy because hearing “Wow, you look great! Have you been working out?” every once in a while is a good way to give you the extra boost of motivation you need to keep up the hard work.

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Your circle of family and friends can either be your greatest allies or worst enemies when it comes to losing weight and getting healthy. If you are proactive about asking for their support, you can use them as a great way to leverage yourself into the body that you want.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

Overcoming Plateaus

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Always work towards progress.

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When you first started out with your fitness program, you probably found that you made big strides every week. You were always able to lift more weight, run longer and for greater distances, and stretch further than the week before. If you stuck with it, you have probably noticed these advancements becoming less and less pronounced over time. When you get to the point where you stop losing fat (even though you are a few pounds shy of your goal weight), or you don’t notice any improvements in your athletic performance, you have hit a plateau. Here are a few ways to work through it:

Slow Down – Obviously, you aren’t just lifting weight for the sake of the lifting weight. You want to grow stronger and become more toned, so you should lift slowly – making sure that each rep puts as much strain on your muscles as possible. Ideally, take about two seconds to lift the weight and two seconds to lower the weight.

Shake Things Up - If you have been stuck in a rut for a while, considering adding in a few more exercises or completely changing your routine. Your body craves variety, and switching up can totally change how your work your body.

Take a Break – It sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes taking a couple days off might be the best thing you can do for your fitness training. A plateau might be a sign that you are just overtraining. Take a couple days off, and see how you feel when you come back to it.

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I don’t want to advocate never being satisfied with your fitness level or how you look, but at the same time, it is OK to enjoy the satisfaction that comes with continually striving for progress. When you see that you making strides, you are more likely to stick with your fitness program and continue to integrate exercise into your overall lifestyle.

About Cafe Physique:
The mission of Café Physique is to help clients reach and exceed their personal fitness and nutrition goals. If you’re in need of an a nutritionist in Atlanta or an Atlanta personal trainer – Café Physique is the perfect solution. We offer Atlanta yoga instruction, Atlanta prenatal workouts, and Atlanta personal training. We also have private sessions of pilates that Atlanta residents are raving about. We invite you to let a member of our Atlanta registered dietitian staff or personal training team develop and implement a realistic and healthy lifestyle plan to meet your personal goals.

How To Fight Cravings

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It’s easy to fight the desire to binge on sweets.

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We all know “that” feeling…where all of a sudden you are overcome with the powerful desire to rip open a bag of potato chips and eat until there is nothing left but crumbs. Cravings can make you feel stressed if you constantly battle with them, and they can ruin your diet if you cave in too often. So what do you do?

Work Up a Sweat - Exercise is a very potent appetite suppressant, so if you feel like you can’t think of anything but devouring ice cream by the spoonful, try going outside for a quick ten minute jog around the block. But the time you return, you will probably find that your cravings are gone.

Get Carb Smart – If you get a sudden craving for cookies, it might actually be a signal from your body that you need more carbs. Instead of immediately heading for the fattening sugary carbs, try eating carbs from a healthier source such as fruit, vegetables, or whole grains. You will probably discover that the cookie craving becomes less prominent after a small snack of good carbs.

Sleep More – A report published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism showed that when you don’t get enough Zs, it reduces the amount of the hormone leptin that your body produces. Leptin is responsible for helping you feel full, so your cravings might be caused by a lack of sleep, not the deliciousness of pancakes and syrup. (Well, maybe it’s a combination of the two)

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Of course, it doesn’t hurt to cave into your cravings a little every once in a while. It might even help to assign a special “cheat meal” where once a week, for one meal, you have what you want. This can actually help fight cravings in more than one way. I know that when some of my clients overindulge on something they’ve been craving for a while on their cheat day, they wind of not wanting to even think of eating that food for weeks.

How to Walk More

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A little more legwork can add up to a lot more weight loss.

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While those super sweaty, high intensity workout sessions you can get in the gym should be an integral part of your overall weight loss strategy, that doesn’t have the be the only way to increase your physical activity. If you can find ways to take extra steps while going about your daily life, you can burn extra calories without exerting much additional effort.

Wear a Pedometer
A report published in 2007 in the Journal of the American Medical Association by a Stanford University doctor showed that several studies suggested that just wearing a pedometer, a small device that counts your steps, makes people want to walk more. In fact, the journal reported that the average person got twenty seven percent more physical activity while walking an extra mile every day. Walking for a mile at four miles an hour can burn around three hundred calories, depending on your weight.

Park Far Away At the Grocery Store
Instead of fighting for the closest space you can find, go ahead and park way in the back. The parking spots will be more plentiful, plus you will be able to walk an extra distance to the store.

Window Shop
Window shopping at the local mall with your friends can make walking a social experience. Plus, walking indoors means that you don’t have to let bad weather prevent you from getting more exercise.

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: fitness is a lifestyle. Getting more fit shouldn’t necessarily rule your life, but it’s a mistake to think that a certain time of the week is “fit time.” If you think of health and fitness as something that you weave into your life, you will find getting fit to be a much easier and more natural task.

Why Exercise?

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Exercise can be a powerful way to improve your life.

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Sometimes I’m asked, “Why work out?” To these people, a healthy lifestyle seems like all work and no benefit, a constant struggle for nothing. But of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

So what do you have to gain by working up a sweat?

You Will Be Happier – Exercise will decrease you body’s supply of cortisol, also known as the “stress hormone,” and increase your amount of dopamine, which helps increase your sense of well-being. In fact, some studies have shown that working out just three times a week for half an hour can be just as effective as anti-depressants for relieving the symptoms of depression.

You Will Be Smarter – Scientists used to think that we lose brain cells as we get older, and nothing can be done about it. New research, however, shows that regular exercise can actually grow new brain cells, helping improve memory, concentration, and even intelligence. That sort of puts a new spin on the idea of a “scholar athlete.”

You Will Sleep Better – People who work out spend more time in deep sleep, which allows them to concentrate better throughout the day. Sleeping well can also have a positive effect on stress, making your everyday problems feel that much more manageable.

You Will Have More Energy - You will be able to approach every task at your job with zest, getting more done in less time, and still having plenty of energy to have fun and take care of your responsibilities at home. If you have never experienced it, trust me, it’s a great feeling.

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You might be wondering why I didn’t include “You Will Be Happier With Your Body.” Well, pretty much everyone knows this reason, and let’s be honest, this is the reason most people decide to start working out at all. But it’s important to remember that hopping on the treadmill doesn’t have to be all about slimming your waistline. Fitness can be a major part of improving your life in every way - physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Fitness Advice You Should Avoid

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Be wary of the advice you hear on the internet.

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Bad fitness advice abounds, especially on the internet. While this is not the only advice you should ignore, these things are particularly frustrating for me to hear coming from fitness “experts.”

Cardio Before Breakfast – The idea behind “fasted cardio,” or doing your cardio first thing in the morning before you’ve had anything to eat, is that the exercise will work directly towards burning fat, rather than burning the calories in the meal you just ate. There are a couple problems with this. Firstly, most people don’t have much energy to exercise before eating anything, so it might make the exercise difficult or even painful. Second, doing this might cause you to metabolize muscle, which will slow down your metabolism.

Take This Supplement – Not all supplements are bad. But for every nutritional supplement that might actually be useful, there are a thousand that are total garbage. Besides, who has the money to spend on all those pills and powders? Despite what ads on the internet or television might have you believe, they have yet to invent anything that will help you lose weight and get lean as quickly, safely, and effectively as a smart diet and exercise plan.

Drink A Gallon of Water a Day - Most people need to drink more water, but the actual amount you should be drinking for optimal hydration depends upon your body weight, the amount of physical activity you get, your altitude, and a few other factors. While it’s very difficult to drink too much water, you shouldn’t really be drinking so much that you feel the need to go to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. A good hydration measurement is the color of your urine: if it’s clear, you are drinking enough.

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If you ever hear fitness advice that sounds a bit off or just too good to be true, try to seek out a second opinion. There is nothing worse than spending months or years trying something to lose weight, only to discover it is totally ineffective. I certainly don’t like to waste my time like that, and I know my clients don’t either, so I always double check the sources and data on every piece of fitness or diet advice I hear.

Metabolism Boosters

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Burn more calories around the clock.

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Wouldn’t it be nice to burn a ton of calories without lifting a finger? Well, in a way, you actually already do. It’s called your “base metabolic rate,” which is the measure of how efficiently you burn calories while doing nothing but sitting on your rear. Here are a few tips to increase your metabolism and burn fat faster.

Drink Green Tea
Various studies have shown that green tea can help burn calories and increase fat oxidation. It is also associated with a lot of other benefits, such as disease prevention, thanks to the large amount of antioxidants and carotenoids in green tea. To get the really good (and most effective) stuff, go down to your local health food store and buy it loose leaf. The prepackaged tea bags work too, but they usually provide fewer benefits.

Eat Frequently
Like I said in my previous post, snacking lightly throughout the day keeps your metabolism up. So make sure you eat something every two or three hours or so to keep your metabolic fire burning.

Make Sure You Get Enough B Vitamins
B6 and B12 in particular are important for keeping up a strong metabolism. Make sure you eat foods that are rich in B vitamins such as leafy green vegetables, eggs, fish, whole grains, beans and peas.

Spice it up
“Hot” herbs like ginger, cloves, cayenne, coriander, bay leaves and dry mustard have been shown to burn fat. Plus the hot stuff also helps encourage you drink more water, which is a must for any exercise and diet plan.

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Of course, even if you are blessed with the natural metabolism of a Brazilian supermodel and use all of these tips, it won’t take the place of a solid nutritional plan and exercise regimen. In fact, regular exercise works better than all of these tips for getting your metabolism up. Just like everything else in life, there are no shortcuts to fitness. But there are a lot of little things you can do to make your journey to getting fit a lot easier.

Learn to Just Chill

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Learning to relax can be a big step towards weight loss.

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If you seem to have a more difficult time losing weight than your friends, it might not be your genetics. It might actually be your stress level. When you feel frazzled, your body releases cortisol, a nasty hormone that encourages your body to store fat and eats away at muscle. Here are few tips that will hopefully make you feel more Zen, making it a bit easier to lose those last few pounds:

Make Your Diet Easy to Follow - You should plan a diet that strikes a healthy balance between foods that are good for you and foods you love. If you focus too heavily on stuff that’s bland but healthy, you will feel deprived, stressed and irritable. On the other hand, if you indulge too often, all that sugar and saturated fat will inevitably expand your waistline. So if you find yourself craving food too often or get frustrated with your food choices, it’s time to rethink things.

Carve Out Time for Yourself – Aim to have at least an hour of every day where you do nothing but something you truly enjoy. Disconnect the phone and read a nice book, do a crossword puzzle, play a musical instrument or whatever else it is you enjoy most. “Me time” will help you unwind and put everything into perspective.

Recognize Your Stressors and Avoid Them - This one might sound obvious, but a lot of people choose to confront stressful situations and people, even when there is no reason to. If the evening news makes your back tense, turn it off. If a coworker is overly critical of you, try and limit your contact with him. Fewer stress points means less stress.

Get Moving – Study after study has shown that regular exercise works wonders on reducing stress and the effects of depression.

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Love Your Body! The more insecure and self-conscious we feel, the more stressed we become, and the more cortisol your body releases. Given this, a poor self-image is not just emotionally hurtful but physically unhealthy too. The better you feel about yourself, the healthier you become. Visit CafePhysique.com to learn more about LoveYour Body Month and how we’re choosing to celebrate it.

Dealing with Fitness Sabotage

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Don’t let your family and friends lead your fitness plans astray.

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If you are like most people, you've probably cheated on your diet because of your family and friends. Maybe someone from the office brought a batch of homemade cookies and insisted that you try a few because they were so good, or your friends made you miss a workout to go see a new movie. While an occasional treat or missed workout isn’t a big deal, it can become a problem if it happens too often. Here are a few ways to deal with fitness saboteurs:

Assume the best - Your family and friends aren’t doing these things because they are malicious; they probably just don’t understand. Don’t let your fitness plan become a source of stress in your social life, and assume that your loved ones actually have your best intentions at heart.

Just tell them - While not everyone appreciates the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, some might stop pressuring you to ruin your fitness plan if you just tell them how important it is to you.

Meet them halfway - If you're being pulled to a movie, ask if you can see a later showing so you can still spend time on the elliptical. If your co-worker is always bringing in pastries full of saturated fat, just have a little nibble and throw the rest away. And don’t feel bad about wasting food. It’s better in the trash than on your thighs, right?

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Fitness, like any long-term goal, is really just about overcoming a series of obstacles. Sometimes those obstacles come in the form of those closest to you. But at the same time, family and friends can sometimes be a fantastic source of support. If you find that certain people are sabotaging your diet plans, try to surround yourself with a more supportive crew so you can have the confidence you need to achieve your fitness goals.

Getting Protein on a Vegan or Vegetarian Diet

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Build muscle without touching an animal product.

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If you are doing any amount of resistance training, you should definitely keep an eye on your protein intake. Without sufficient protein, it will take a lot longer to build muscle and get that “tone” look you are going for. But if you are a vegan or vegetarian, it can be extra challenging to get enough of this essential macronutrient. Here are few suggestions I usually offer to my vegetarian and vegan clients.

Tofu is a staple of most vegan diets, and it fortunately contains a lot of protein. Tofu comes in a bunch of different textures, including silken, firm, and extra firm. For an extra shot of protein, stick with eating extra firm. It has the highest amount of protein per gram.

Nuts also give you a good protein kick and can be mixed with dried fruit for a healthy and filling snack. Ideally, you shouldn’t eat the heavily salted & roasted nuts you usually find in small packages. This process takes away a lot of the nutritional value and adds a bunch of unnecessary additives. In my opinion, the “king” of the healthy nuts is unprocessed almonds. They have twenty-one grams of protein per serving and tons of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.

Seeds are another great vegetarian protein source. Most varieties give you the protein you need plus a lot of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which can be particularly hard to get with a vegan diet. One of the healthier varieties is the sunflower seed, which has twenty-three grams of protein per serving.

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I have lots of clients who want to get fit but have to work around certain obstacles related to how they can eat or move. Sometimes they are lactose intolerant, have a bum knee, or have chosen to cut meat out of their diet. What I’ve discovered is that every obstacle is minor if the client really wants to lose that weight. Really, healthy eating is a challenge for everyone - vegans and vegetarians just have to be a bit more creative.

Fast Food Isn't Necessarily Evil

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Fast food doesn’t have to equal unhealthy food.

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It’s sometimes very hard to lead a busy lifestyle and eat right at the same time. If you find yourself ordering drive-through more than you’d like but still want to stay true to your fitness plan, stick to these options from some popular fast food eateries.

Hardee’s – Your best bet at Hardee’s is the charbroiled BBQ chicken sandwich. Unlike most fast food chicken sandwiches, the chicken patty isn’t deep-fried and it doesn’t come with cheese, so it only has one gram of saturated fat, plus a full 33 grams of protein.

KFC – It’s hard to find something good for you here (after all, “fried” is in the name), but the tender roast chicken sandwich without sauce is a good way to go. It only has 300 calories and 4.5 grams of total fat. Asking to hold the sauce shaves 80 calories and 8.5 grams of fat from the meal.

McDonald’s – Despite the bad press, it’s possible to eat healthy here too. Just ask for Chicken McGrill without mayonnaise. Again, making the special order is crucial here. It trims the sandwich down to a total of 300 calories and six grams of fat.

Taco Bell – The soft chicken taco has just 170 calories and four grams of total fat. If you want something a bit more substantial to eat, try the soft chicken taco supreme. It bumps the calories up to 350, but that’s still pretty reasonable compared to most fast food fare.

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I think this really illustrates the #1 tool for eating a healthy diet: education. I usually find that the more my clients learn about ways to eat healthy on the run and exercise on tight schedules, the healthier and fitter they become. I think spending time reading up and listening to experts on how to stay fit is just as important as spending time in the gym.

Cardio You Haven't Tried

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Finding new ways to get your heart pumping will make exercise more fun and more effective.

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If you are starting to find the treadmill tedious and the stair stepper to be a snooze, it’s time to add a new cardiovascular exercise to your repertoire. Here are few simple things that you may not have considered.

Jump Rope - This grade school recess favorite can be surprisingly effective at shedding calories. After you’ve mastered the basic “single hop” (where the rope goes under your feet once per rotation) try the more challenging “double rotation,” where the rope has to fly underneath you twice before you touch the ground.

Handball - Sports are always a fantastic way to get your body moving, mostly because it feels more like fun than exercise, and handball works well because all you need is a wall, a ball, and two players. Just be sure to wear goggles or a sturdy pair of glasses while you’re playing to protect your eyes.

Hiking or Rock Climbing - If you haven’t already, check out the parks in your area to see what kind of hiking trails and climbing areas are available. A nice outing on a hiking trial not only lets you engage in a lot of low intensity cardio but also gives you some neat areas to explore. Rock climbing can be a bit more intense, so take it easy if you’ve never done it before.

Rowing - A rowing machine can get you into your target heart rate quickly and work your back at the same time.

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I think that boredom is the number one killer of fitness motivation, so I always have my clients trying out new exercises. Sometimes, like in the case with hiking or rock climbing, it can lead to a lifelong hobby. Try a little bit of everything and eventually you’ll find something you’ll enjoy sticking with.

Make Your New Year's Resolutions Stick

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Make this the year your New Year’s Resolutions stick.

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By now I think it’s common knowledge that that most common New Year’s resolution is to lose weight and get fit. I also think it’s common knowledge that those plans usually sputter out before the end of winter. It’s difficult to watch countless good intentioned people falter when it comes to fitness, so I’ve laid out a few tips that might help you make this the year your fitness plans stick for good.

Have Patience – A good-looking body always goes to the person who is willing to wait for it. No one reaches their fitness goals overnight, and even fitness cover models had to start somewhere. Be consistent, work out every week, and your fitness will steadily improve.

Get a Partner – Chances are you know someone who also wants to make 2008 their most fit year. Team up to encourage each other during workouts and trade dieting tips. Knowing that someone else is working towards their fitness goals alongside you can be a huge motivator.

Variety – Don’t just go for a jog every day and call it a fitness plan. There is a whole world of exercise out there: yoga, pilates, weight lifting, plyometrics, and more. Mixing it up will not just work your body in different ways and help you lose weight faster, it will also help prevent you from getting bored.

Don’t Forget To Diet - Don’t think that if you work extra hard you won’t have to give up pizza and beer. There are just too many calories packed into grease to make it possible to burn it all off, even with an intense fitness plan. Learning to eat smart might seem intimidating, but you will get the hang of it after just a couple weeks.

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The first couple of weeks after our clients start exercising and eating right for the first time in their lives, they usually see really dramatic weight loss. After that, it levels out and they might start losing just half a pound to a pound a week. If this happens to you, don’t get discouraged. It just means your body has caught up to your new lifestyle. Keep at it, and you will be rewarded with a healthy & fit body.

Pimp Your Salad

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Make sure everything you put in your salad is diet-friendly.

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If you are one of those dieters who like to opt for a salad every time you eat out, you should definitely be aware that not all salads are equally healthy. But with a little education, you can make smart substitutions to ensure everything stays low calorie, low fat, and highly nutritious.

Instead of Iceberg Lettuce, Have Spinach: Iceberg lettuce isn’t bad for you, but it isn’t exactly doing anything great for you either. Spinach has a ton of vitamins and antioxidants that can protect your cardiovascular system, boost your energy, and slow signs of aging.

Instead of Croutons, Have Nuts: Croutons are chunks of fried bread, and all of that oil will pack a bunch of unnecessary saturated fat and extra calories into your meal. Nuts on the other hand will give you a nice boost of protein, plus a few “healthy” fats that can actually help speed your weight loss.

Instead of a Creamy Dressing, have Vinaigrette: Ranch and bleu cheese dressing have gobs of saturated fat. Not only is vinaigrette dressing much lighter, but vinegar has been shown to help regulate insulin levels, which makes it easier to burn off body fat.

Instead of Fried Chicken, Have Grilled Chicken: Protein in your salad is definitely a good idea, but make sure it is of the grilled variety and not soaked in grease. If the salad’s description includes the word “crispy,” you can bet more than one ingredient has been deep-fried.

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Unfortunately, almost all fast food salads are not very diet-friendly, with most packing over twenty grams of fat. Your best bet for eating a salad at a chain restaurant would probably be Subway, where the veggie delight salad has just one gram of fat and the Subway club salad has just 3.5 grams of fat, assuming you get the fat free Italian dressing for both.

Surviving Thanksgiving

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There is usually a lot of pressure from your family and friends to overindulge on Thanksgiving. But it’s still possible to have fun without ruining your diet.

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The holiday times are a gauntlet for the fitness minded. What with all the social gatherings revolving around eating a ton food, freshly baked sweets lining tables, and metabolism-slowing alcohol flowing freely, it’s a wonder not everyone starts the new year fifteen pounds heavier. The reason so many people eat so much isn’t necessarily because their willpower is weak, though those foods can be pretty tempting, but because there is pressure from other partygoers to try everything. They might say you just have to have the pumpkin pie because your aunt made it from scratch, or you just have to try the ham because it’s delicious. How do you deal with all this?

Make sure your family or friends who attend the party know that you can’t eat everything, not because you’re not social, but because you’re on a diet. It might help to state everything you’ve accomplished so far, like “Well, I’ve already managed to lose fifteen pounds, so I want to keep that going.” They might be more understanding and less prone to shove food in your face.

It should also help to eat a healthy, but filling meal beforehand, hopefully with some healthy fats to help you feel full. That way your desire to get fit will most likely override your taste buds and grumbling tummy when confronted with a plate of marshmallow candied yams.

Dessert
I deal with the pressure to eat everything on Thanksgiving by eating just a little nibble of everything. This might not work for everyone, because for some people all it takes to set off an eating binge is a little bite of moist turkey or sweet pecan pie. But for me, I find taking a small sample of the bounty allows me to keep my calorie and fat intake low while still allowing me to feel like I’m a part of the celebration.

Have a happy and fit thanksgiving everyone!

Battle of the Sexes

Appetizer

Spend less time comparing your weight loss progress to that of the opposite sex.

Main Course

Eating right and working out with your mate can be fun and inspiring, but just make sure that you don't compare your results to his or hers.

Ladies: Let's go ahead and face the facts since we can't deny Mother Nature. Because we have the babies, our bodies are naturally softer (read: More Fat). This means that, generally speaking, we tend to lose weight at a slower rate than our male counterparts - even when we're working just as hard.

Fellas: You tend to be a bit more competitive, and may get overly excited about your weight loss progress if you're comparing yourself to a woman. With the same amount of effort, chances are that you'll almost always lose at a faster rate so make sure that you set the bar high and push yourself to get the best results that YOU can get - regardless of where your partner is weighing in.

Dessert

We (women) have more pressure from the media to be super thin yet we (women) also have the hardest time losing weight. This makes no sense, yet I find myself buying into it. When I'm talking to other women, I say all of the right things about how they shouldn't fall prey to the petty pressures, but...I'm only human.

Maybe we can help each other. Let's just agree to stop comparing ourselves to others - especially genetically gifted men!

Bust Through the Sweet Spot

Appetizer

Got carried away with too much sweet stuff? Ingest more fiber and protein to help even things out.

Main Course

Too much cake, candy or cookies can make you feel like crap. Depending on your blood sugar level, you may even start to feel a little shaky because refined carbs make your blood sugar spike.

When this happens, take action right away by consuming a combination of protein, fiber and complex carbohydrates. Examples:

- Yogurt and berries
- Handful of almonds and a small piece of fruit
- Peanut butter on whole-grain toast

- Unsalted soy nuts

Snacks like these take longer to digest and are released more slowly into your bloodstream. This will help to cut your blood sugar when you eat them right away.

Dessert

This bit of advice was recently reported by ABC News. Although I was already aware of it, hearing about it again made me realize just how counterintuitive it is. When I eat too many sweets, my instinct is to not eat anything else because I feel like crap physically and mentally (Read: Major Guilt).

This is one of the few times that you may have to allow nature & proven science to override your natural instinct in an effort to curb the short-term effects of a sugar binge - no matter how warranted that quart of Edy's was.

A Walk a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Appetizer

Walking is the easiest, most universal, inexpensive and readily available form of exercise. Do it more often for increased health benefits and weight loss.

Main Course
Lack of sidewalks, long distances between locations and crazy traffic make American cities less walker-friendly than our European counterparts. Don't let that discourage you though. Take the time to look for high school tracks, park trails, large parking lots and shopping malls...use them to your advantage.

Dessert

If you're anything like me, you're going to need something to keep you busy while walking. You can invite a friend to chat with or download some new music that you'll enjoy singing along with. Just be sure not to sing too loud or passersby will start to think you've lost your Cheerios!